Psalm 146

Been an interesting morning, lots to do with the family, so I'm sorry that it's a little bit late. Try to shoot for about nine o'clock, that doesn't always happen, but that's okay. All right, well, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions.
It's so good to have you today. Welcome is where every day we get together. We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Well, I'm so glad you're here with me this morning. Why don't we go ahead and we'll have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into Psalm 146. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you how you feed our souls. We thank you how you care for us. Lord, we pray that as we read your word that you would move our hearts to praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, here we go. Psalm 146. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live, I will praise the Lord. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes nor in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth. In that very day, his plans perish.
Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob as his help. whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers. He relieves the fatherless and the widow. But the way of the wicked, he turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever. You, O God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord. Well, we have a beautiful psalm today. We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response?
So it's a bookend psalm, right? It starts with a command, hallelujah, praise the Lord. And it ends with a command, hallelujah, praise the Lord. And in a real sense, verse two, or the second half of verse one, is almost a command to the psalmist's own heart. Did you catch it? Praise the Lord, oh my soul.
This is just kind of speculation and I guess, I think the psalmist is speaking of real situations in their life, real situations in what's going on, and they're having to tell their heart, don't trust in princes. trust in the God of the universe. They're trying, they have to remind their own heart, don't be comforted by the things of this world or troubled by the things of this world, but look to the God of heaven. And so as we go through this, this is a real person really singing the Psalm. And it really is inspired by the Lord and helpful to us in a day and age when there's so much polarization and people trust so much in what's going on in the government. There's constant news coverage of federal and state events and this is telling us to look past that.
I will, while I live, I will praise the Lord. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. In the midst of everything, trust in the Lord. And so verses three and four, it talks about the mortality of people. Don't trust in princes, nor in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs and he returns to the earth, for in that very day his plans perish.
Every president we've had has eventually died. President Biden will die. President Trump will die. Everybody will die. It's just the reality. And their plans, their agendas, what they want to do, it's going to come to nothing. They're going to go in the grave and they're going to die. Don't put your trust there. Don't put your ultimate hope there. But instead, Look to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the God who is above heaven and earth.
That's what verses five through nine tell us. Blessed is he, the New King James here says happy, it's the word asherah, I like blessed better. Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob for his hope, whose hope is in the Lord his God. And what does it say about him? He made heaven and earth. The sea and all that is in them. He keeps truth forever. And this is the king that we long for. This is the king that Jesus is. What does verse 7 say? Jesus is that shepherd king.
Jesus is that God who loves truth and preserves it forever. It is by Jesus Christ that all things are held together. It is Jesus who was with the Father in the beginning and all things were made by and through him and are held together by the word of his name. power. It is Jesus Christ who is the one who gave sight to the blind. It is Jesus Christ who fed the hungry. It is Jesus Christ who freed the prisoners. It is Jesus Christ who is that King who we can praise.
And so the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. Jesus literally did that. And he does it now spiritually. The Lord raised those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers. He relieves the fatherless and the widow. But the way of the wicked, he turns upside down.
He still does that today, but don't we still long for when Jesus will return and he's promised to do it ultimately? The Lord shall reign over Zion. Your God, O Zion, to all generations." What is this about? Don't put your trust in earthly princes. Praise the Lord. Trust Him. What's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I think in my Bible, I have underlined verse 10, also verse 12, or sorry, verse 2 and 3. So 2 and 3 and 10 were the verses I have underlined. What would you underline in your Bible? Last calling. Well that's been all over the place. Calling. Calling, calling, calling. Maybe you love Fox News. Maybe you love CNBC. Maybe every time you get in the car you have some talk news channel. Maybe NPR or something on.
I don't know. and you get consumed by what's going on, trust in the Lord. Find peace for your soul. Know that the King of Kings is reigning upon his throne and will come back and judge the world with equity. He keeps truth to all generations. Yeah, we live in this world. We're told in the pastoral epistles, Paul tells Timothy to pray. We're to pray for our elected leaders. Maybe we need to spend less time arguing and getting worked up in our hearts about this and more time praying that we might live dignified and holy lives.
Praise the Lord, though. That's the command from this. Praise the Lord. Look to the Lord, the one who created heaven and earth. Worship him only. Trust him only. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we pray that we might trust you, that we might love you, that we might praise you.
Lord, we thank you that you sit on a throne of righteousness and that you judge the world with equity. You hear the cries of the widow and of the orphan, the oppressed and those in need. You feed the hungry and give sight to the blind. You raise up those who are bowed down. Father, we bow at your feet and we trust you. We lift up our hearts to you, Lord, and we praise you with joy. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may God bless you today. May you rest in Jesus Christ, your King of Kings. And I'll see you, let's see, it's Thursday, so I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.